Five-Minute Slices of Life by James R. Coggins

Early one morning several years ago, Allen Unrau knocked on my door. He lived only three or four blocks away, but we had never met.

Allen had come to ask me to edit the short stories he was writing every week for the local newspaper. It was a Godsend because at the time I very much needed the work. The arrangement lasted two or three years, and, as well as a client, Allen became a good friend.

I quickly realized that Allen was a very good writer and a master storyteller. To be able to introduce characters, tell a story, and bring it to a satisfactory conclusion in 600 words (the word limit imposed by the newspaper) is a remarkable ability. To be able at the same time to expand understanding, tickle the funny bone, encourage the heart, turn on smiles, and bring the reader to tears is an astonishing feat. Yet this is what Allen Unrau achieved in his highly readable 600-word “slices of life.” His stories were polished gems, nuggets of truth.

Some years passed, I launched a small book publishing imprint (Mill Lake Books), and I asked Allen if he would like me to gather some of his stories and publish them as a book. The result is a book titled Five-Minute Slices of Life, published this spring. I could write more about how wonderful these stories are, but I would rather show you. Here is one of those stories.

An imperfectly discerned destiny

Troy Hamilton is a thirty-eight-year-old fast talker with no plans to get married.

Many matchmakers have schemed and failed. Dozens of women have set their scented traps, but he has sidestepped them all.

Acquaintances pepper him with questions: “Why are you afraid to get married? How do you cope with the loneliness?”

Troy shrugs. “I keep busy. I’ve got lots of friends.”

Troy is an auctioneer. Sales records show he’s a crowd favorite.

Sylvia Phillips, a local librarian, bought a small antique table at the auction last Thursday and fell in love. She’s mesmerized by his amazing voice, his dreamy blue eyes and the way he looked at her when he said, “Sold to the pretty lady in the dark green coat!”

At thirty-four, Sylvia’s biological clock is racing. Though not desperate, she’s very interested in finding a good man.

Troy Hamilton is sure to be a good man.

She must find a way to meet him.

Next Thursday, she arrives an hour before the sale. “Is last week’s auctioneer here? I have some questions for him about a table I bought.”

Clever.

In a few minutes, Troy appears. He smiles and offers her his hand. “I remember you. That little antique table was a classic.” He’s obviously busy, but takes time to chat.

His eyes distract her. She gets flustered, forgets the made-up question she’s planned and blurts out: “Does your wife like antiques as much as I do?”

Now, where did that come from? Her face is flushed, and her eyes fall to the floor.

Troy is quick to reply, “I’m single, never married. I love antique furniture. My house is full of it. I’d be happy to answer more questions after the sale, but right now I’m very busy.”

Embarrassed, Sylvia leaves by a side door.

All week, she can’t get him out of her mind. Next Thursday, she arrives late. When the auction’s over, she goes looking for Troy, her usual shyness forgotten.

“Can we go for a coffee? I want to talk to you about antiques.”

The office staff roll their eyes. Politely, he turns her down.

She tries several different tactics over the next few weeks, but nothing works.

She questions herself. “What’s wrong with me?”

Her questions are answered later at the library. Troy doesn’t know she works there. He checks out five books from the medical section. Sylvia looks up the titles after he’s gone.

Troy Hamilton has inherited an untreatable disease. He’s genetically marked for an early death. By staying single, he might have saved a woman from early widowhood.

Sylvia doesn’t care. She confronts him with what she knows and what she feels.

Four months later, she marries a dying man. His blue eyes fill with tears as she promises to be there for him in sickness and in health: “Marriage is an unconditional commitment, a leap of faith into an imperfectly discerned destiny, an opportunity to love in the present, whatever the future might bring.”

*****

The memorial service is a celebration of love. Troy’s father weeps openly as he reads the eulogy. “For five glorious years, Troy and Sylvia had one of the most loving, happy marriages I have ever seen. If they had had their wish, they would have had many more wonderful years and grown old together. But it was not to be. None of us could have foreseen the carelessness of a drunk driver, the tragic automobile accident that claimed their lives. All of us can be comforted with the thought that they died instantly, with no pain, and they are together forever.”

Five-Minute Slices of Life is distributed by Ingram and is available from bookstores and online retailers such as Amazon and Amazon Canada.